Burling tool



Sept. 2, 1952 D. J. MlNDHElM BURLING TOOL Filed June 9, 1950 ln m LINVENTOR. DANIEL; J.

MiNDHElM Patented Sept. 2, 1952 aeoasaa;

1 BUB-DING 'rooL Daniel. Mindheim, Newark, N; J.

ApplicationJune 9; 1950,.Serial N 0. 167,003

; 2"Claims. (01,751 41) This: invention-v relates burli ng. tools; and:m e pa t cu r to; a handtool iorxpick ns :and' cutting excessive and;extraneous materialfrom wovenfabric,

, is amon -r the 110bJect cf.-the; invention. ,to-

p ov hur in .tcol in the for'mxo a" pair of. wee ersh tins o pos pu tin-blades th r n so, that the -slubs,;threads;-;thread1 ends,- knots: andother misplaced or extraneous material in a;

pieceofwoven fabric can be picked out and cut away to leave the fabricin a smooth and finished condition, which provides .theitwee'zers andthe cutting blades or shearsin thesametoolso that it is not necessary tochange tools foncuttingand picking operations which is so designed thatthe tweezer points'close before the cutting blades so that a-thread canbe held byxthe tweezerswhile being cutoff; at the, surface. of ,the;fabric. .by -the cutting blades, in which the cutting blades .are soshaped and positioned that they will cut fibres at the surface of thefabric but cannot dig into the fabric to cause injury thereto, and whichtool is simple, strong and durable in construction, economical tomanufacture, easy and comfortable to use, and positive and effective inoperation.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a considerationof the following description and the appended claims in conjunction withthe accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a burling tool illustrative ofthe invention in operative position on a piece of fabric;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the tool as illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a, cross sectional view on an enlarged scale on the line 3-3of Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the tool showing the manner of usingthe tool for removing a loose thread from a piece of woven fabric.

With continued reference to the drawing, the tool comprises twoelongated fiat legs II! and II having their end portions permanentlywelded together at one end of the tool, as indicated at I2, andextending in side by side relationship from such welded togetherportions. At their opposite ends both of the legs I and I I aresymmetrically tapered along straight edges, as indicated at I3 and I4 inFigure l, and terminate in sharp points I5 and I6.

The legs III and I I are formed of specially heat treated spring steelto render them highly resilient and extremely hard and are bowedoutwardly away fromeach other so that the points I5 and I6 areresiliently held apart, as particularly illustrated in Figure 2.

The tool is of a size to fit comfortably into the hand ofan operator andthe points I5 and I6 can be squeezed together by thumb and fingerpressure on the outer sides of the legs I0 and II to grasp a. thread.or;.--fibre;-mass; .on a, piece:-.of;-' woven fabric and mill-suchthread or fibre mass outwardly from the-surface of the .fabric;- The,points may also .be used foryremoving extraneous;

.- material ,from the cloth, such asfragments :of's

burrs, stemsor other extraneous-material which may have been included inthe fibre fromwhichethe fabric was woven.

Twocutting blade-formationsd I1 and- I 8 are provided, one on 1 eachleg; and are. disposed; at. the same side of .thetooldn mutually opposedres-i lationship to each ,other. ,The L 1tting blade; fore mation' I 1extends .-,long itudinallyof the leg; I IL intermediate the length ofthe tapering; straight;- edge I4 of this leg and, adjacent-thepoint15,while the blade formation" I8 is :provided on the}; correspondingtapering straight edge ,1 of the leg; I] and is substantially."coterminous with the: for'mationJfI. I f V While the, dimensions may be.varied w-ithin,

reasonable limits without in anyway exceeding the scope of theinvention, it has been found that a total length of a tool of slightlyover four inches and a displacement of the adjacent ends of the cuttingblade formations from the corresponding points I5 and I6 ofapproximately one' half inch have been found to provide excellentresults in use. a

As is particularly illustrated in Figure 3, each of the cutting bladeformations I 'I and I8 is integral with the corresponding legs I0 and IIand the cutting blade formations are of V cross sectional shapeproviding mutually opposed cutting edges at the inner sides of the legs.The outer edges of the blade formations are fiat and are in alignmentwith the corresponding straight edges of the legs I0 and II so that thetapering straight edges of the legs provide a guide or stop whichprecludes the blade formations from digging into the fabric and injuringthe fabric or severing the threads of which the fabric is woven. Thecutting edges of the blade formations, however, are flush with the flatouter surfaces of the formations so that the blades will cut at thesurface of the fabric and completely remove any excretions orprojections from the surface of the fabric leaving the fabric in asmooth condition.

In using the tool, large bunches or knots of material and extraneousmaterial may be picked from the fabric by the tweezer points I5 and I5and smaller bunches and knots of fabric and loose threads may be cut offat the surface of the fabric by the cutting blade formations I1 and I8.Because of the outwardly bowed shape-of the legs I0 and II, the pointsI5 and I6 close somewhat before the cutting edges of the bladeformations I1 and I8 are brought together. With this arrangement, aloose thread may be grasped between the tweezer points-and stretchedaway use and resiliency of the legs of the tool is such that the cuttingedges of the blade formations can be brought together to sever theexcess fibres without such excessive manual pressure as will result inundue fatigue.

The invention may be embodied inroth'er specific forms without departingfrom the :spirit. or essential characteristics thereof. The presentembodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects asillustrative and not -restrictive, the scope of the inventionbeing'indicatedby the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription, and all changes which come 'within the meaning andrange ofequivalency of 'the' claims are, therefore, intendedto be-embracedtherein. v What is claimed is: v f' 1. A bu'rling toolcomprising a pair of fiat legs of resilient'material firmly securedtogether at: as

one end of said tool andha'ving' mutually opposed pointed endsat theother end of the tool, said legs being shaped to resiliently hold saidpointed ends spaced apart, and cutting blade formations disposed onefoneach leg adjacent S'O the pointed end thereof and extending along thecorresponding edges of the-associated legs, said blade formations beingdisposed in mutually opposed relationship at the. same'side of the'tooland each havinga flat surfacein align- 35 4 ment with the correspondingedge of the associated leg, and said legs being longitudinally curved sothat said pointed ends close before said blade formations. v

12. A burl-ing' tool comprising pair cif tweezers including a pair ofcoextensive legs of elongated rectangular cross sectional shape rigidlysecured together at one end in face to face relationship "Sand pointedat the other end of the tool, and

a pair of mutually opposed and coextensive cutting blade formationsprovided one on each of said legs intermediate the length thereof and atthe same side of said tool, each of said legs having a straightedgeportion at the location of the corresponding cutting bladeformation, and each of said blade formations-having a fiat outer surfacein alignment with the straight edge portion of the corresponding leg anda cutting edge along the edge of said flat surface proximate to theopposed blade formatiom said blades being located near the pointedends-of s'aidl'egs, and said legs being longitudinally curved so thatthe pointed ends thereof closebefore'said blade formations.

' "'DANIEL'J. MIND HEIM;

V REFERENCES'CIT-ED- 7 The following references are of record in thefile of this patent: w J I UNITED STATES PATENTS;

' Date Number 'Name D. 138,917 Frank Sept. 26, 1944 721,480 Schott Feb.24, 1903

